{guest post from Ajanta Chakraborty of CultureGroove}
Should non-Muslim kids celebrate Ramadan & Eid?
You probably guessed it; the answer is a resounding yes!
Mom/Dad, what is she wearing?
Kids and their delightful loud questions in public, am I right? If your child hasn’t already asked it, they probably will when they see a little girl in Hijab at a birthday party, at the grocery store, at the park etc. Now is the perfect time to proactively teach our kids so that they learn more about their Muslim friends and get curious to learn even more about their culture.
Fight hate with knowledge
Let me give you another reason with a much bigger impact. In current times, we are all concerned about the environment of fear around us that has its deep roots in ignorance and lack of understanding. It’s really quite simple: we fear what we don’t understand and that fear sometimes manifests in the form of hatred and even violence.
I don’t know much about Islam.
With Ramadan currently in progress, there is no better time than now to introduce the concept to our kids. Are you concerned about talking about another religion without an in-depth understanding of it? Don’t worry, there is indeed a way to introduce the beautiful concepts of Ramadan and Eid without a deep religious study (take a look at our book for more).
So, how do I celebrate it?
The month of Ramadan is not just about fasting and staying hungry. The spirit of Ramadan is to give up something for a month that you covet in order to gain an appreciation for all you have. As a non-Muslim household (and a non-religious household in general), here is how we did it: we asked our son to pick something that he absolutely loves. Like most 5-year-olds, candy and screen time topped the list. He finally decided on candy and committed to giving that up for a few days. On those days, we read our book on Ramadan and Eid and talked about kindness and gratitude. We are also planning to make kindness rocks (see our celebration kit) and distribute them throughout the neighborhood.
Ajanta’s 5-year-old son, Ruhaan, fighting his inner battle to give up on candy for a few days.
It is that simple to dig deeper into the roots of a beautiful celebration and use it as a teaching moment for our kids to help them grow up multicultural!
For a fun children’s book on the topic along with a free celebration kit, visit CultureGroove.com/Eid.
About Ajanta
Ajanta Chakraborty
Ajanta Chakraborty is the author of a bestselling book series with nine titles called Maya & Neel’s India Adventure series.
She is an ex-technologist who is now the CEO of Bollywood Groove and Culture Groove and her team runs a thriving dance & culture program for 250 students in Chicago. Her work has been featured on NBC, ABC, Elle magazine, Nielsen, Univision, Fox News, WGN, WCIU and more. Most recently, Ajanta received the Corporate Woman of Achievement award by NAWBO.
